"Kaiju...does any of the companies offer customs?" Topic

(groan…DO any of the companies offer customs?)

Meaning the established companies or artists/studios, do they offer the opportunity for customers/collectors to send in designs and have them made?

I had a request to make one but my price seemed to stun the person in question.

"But I can buy one for $5-10" "Why so much for a custom one?"

I do not know what to say to that. It costs what it costs. So I looked for other sites to provide the custom work and found very little and what I did find was in the hundreds of dollars…they considered their work fine art, ok moving on.

So is there a good source for a custom design?

If not, what would you the kaiju player/gamer consider a reasonable price for a custom 6" monster?

I have no idea. When I was in NYC a few months ago I went into 'Toy Tokyo' and my jaw hit the floor. The most pitiful, terrible sculpt of Godzilla was $12. USD The store had many, many kaiju and the prices were ferocious! Hundreds of dollars for plastic monsters! I'm sure some were rare or limited, or collectible, but I was hoping to be able to pick up some cheapies, in the $5 USD range… no dice.

Then I went into the vinyl collector toy (Kaws etc.) room…
Yowza!

I think prices for custom Kaiju can be pricey because each is sculpted individually and it takes awhile. You can see a lot of "greens" going for around $200+.

A possibly more affordable approach would be to have a line of "Kaiju bits" that you could use to modify most 6 inch monsters or enough so that you could biuld your own. Have body bits, heads, mouth parts, add-ons like fins, longer claws, ect.

The Kaws stuff is great for that type of thing…I like all of that sort of indy vinyl work…but for gaming kaiju I am on a different page.

Hundreds is a silly price range for gaming miniatures. But the price range of say the monsterpocalypse high end range, the "rare/quantum" ones seems a reasonable asking range, IMO.

For a custom monster, kit bashed/converted/sculpted single without casting rights, I could see $25-100 depending on the details and complexity.

Just seems like a fun market to consider…$100 to make a monster of your choosing come to life?

In todays market that would be a tough sell on a consistant basis, but there are enough odd ducks to fill an upsidedown lake out there in this great big world, so who knows?

And yes I have thought about 3-5 basic bodies, exchangable arms/legs/tails/heads/etc., and then a custom element if desired.

Why are more kaiju players not using monsterpocalypse figures? Or are they covertly using them…hmmmmmmm.

As a kaiju game desinger (Giant Monster Rampage), I have been asked if I was planning on producing any figures for the unique monsters in my game setting. Because of this I have often wondered what it would cost to have my own line of vinyl monster figures produced.

As a player I have no real need or desire for a custom figure. There is such a large quantity of various figures available to suit my kaiju gaming needs. If I were to ever purchase a custom figure I couldn't see myself paying more than $25 USD for a 6" figure.

Giant Monster I bow to your opinion. If you who are likely a fan more than most would not see +$25 for a custom figure then it is most likely the general formula.

For me, I could not see putting 2-3hrs minimum into a figure to see a return of $20-25.

No bitterness intended or directed, at all :)

But with basic costs of materials, even if on the cheap of $2-3 then you are pointing towards minimum wage for custom art/modeling…and that is not even considering painting.

But as you say more than $25 USD exceeds your interest and I respect that. There are lots of interesting models out there.

Hey GM, do you get much time to partake of GMR here lately? It would be a blast I think to have an adult group to conduct a league style event a couple times a month…new buildings, new monsters, etc..

In a best case gaming world I do not see why big monster gaming is not stronger than it is…there are great micro armor scale minitures to compliment the monsters.

Anyway, I do appreciate your input, thanks and best of luck with your game!

I based that price on what I have heard my players have spent on a collectable version of a monster figure from popular media as well as what I am willing to pay and have paid myself. Granted some are willing to pay more and others less but I still think $25 USD is a good average for a custom figure.

I think the perception is that if you can buy Godzilla and friends for $10-$20 why would you pay $100 USD for a nonlicensed figure.

As for a league, I'm open to helping out. It'd be great to find a group of players in my area that would like to play. I haven't had much chance to play since moving to North Georgia.

Sounds like a winner.

Looking up your game I found an interesting image (line art combo pic in middle of page) angelfire.com/film/gwo clean lines. I like this style quite a bit…is this from one of your books?

And if possible, could you find out where the average person could find the $10-20 figures? Been looking now that I have been stirred up, not much luck.

As for what to do with your game, I would certainly try to attend Dragoncon in Atlanta…it is a blast.

That link shows the cover for the main book and expansion from the first edition of GMR. The game is on its third edition released this past summer.

If your looking for figures try doing a search for Bandai Godzilla or kaiju vinyl figures. Most figures are imported from Japan but Bandai does have a line of 6" Godzilla figures for sale in the U.S. The next wave should be available in a couple of months. They also have 12" figures.

I have run demos at Dragoncon I just haven't been able to attend the past few years.

That is cool. How were the games received?

The image I spoke of is further down…the line art of 9 monsters.

I found a couple with your input thanks… toywiz.com/bbcotofi1.html

Everyone who played seemes to genuinely enjoy the game from the young to the old.

That specific piece of art is in the 1st edition main rulebook depicting the monsters of the different kingdoms.

Shop around some there are cheaper places than ToyWiz.